fustercluck
02-04-2009, 08:00 AM
Not trying to be a drama llama, but I spent the better part of last night in the local emergency room with crushing chest pressure and a sense of panic/urgency. While I usually complain about my late middle age physical state, it is somewhat misleading as I am and never have been a sedentary individual. My resting heart rate is consistently at 62bpm; unchanged since my bike racing days. It takes me about 30 seconds to go from active to resting heart rhythm, which as I understand it is a decent recovery time.
Last night however while goofing around with the Jr Fusters (read: pillow fight, wrestling etc.) my heart began to feel like it was coming out of my chest. Calling a temp truce, I sat down and monitored it for ten minutes as it increased in urgency. Mrs Fuster is a PA at a cancer hospital so I went upstairs and she did her testing routine. She tossed me in the car and off to the E room we went.
Long story short, I had a reaction to two over the counter cold medications which, in rare cases if taken simultaneously can cause heart dysrhythmia giving the sensation that one is having a mild heart attack. Of course I did not have a heart attack and according to my tests, nor am I likely to have one. My diagnosis was triple gemini dysrhythmia. Layman's terms: My heart was stimulated to pause and try to catch up with one large beat two smaller ones causing back pressure etc.
My point is that during the early moments of my emergency room visit while I layed on the world's most uncomfortable table/bed/torture rack, I began to place greater importance on the value of proper physical maintenance and consistent medical fitness checks. Had I been more diligent with that, I think I could have avoided the dread of a potentially abbreviated life and all of the last minute concerns that race through one's head. Given my characteristic propensity to abandon healthful behaviors as time erases the urgency, I'm not sure it is an enduring epiphany. Then again, there is the formidable Mrs Fuster to prod and poke...
I'm on a heart monitor for another 15 hours. I have had a normal rhythm since about 4:00 am so I guess I am out of the woods. Anyway, if y'all haven't had a physical exam and blood work done lately or ever, perhaps it would be wise to do so; if only to eliminate possibilities later.
Last night however while goofing around with the Jr Fusters (read: pillow fight, wrestling etc.) my heart began to feel like it was coming out of my chest. Calling a temp truce, I sat down and monitored it for ten minutes as it increased in urgency. Mrs Fuster is a PA at a cancer hospital so I went upstairs and she did her testing routine. She tossed me in the car and off to the E room we went.
Long story short, I had a reaction to two over the counter cold medications which, in rare cases if taken simultaneously can cause heart dysrhythmia giving the sensation that one is having a mild heart attack. Of course I did not have a heart attack and according to my tests, nor am I likely to have one. My diagnosis was triple gemini dysrhythmia. Layman's terms: My heart was stimulated to pause and try to catch up with one large beat two smaller ones causing back pressure etc.
My point is that during the early moments of my emergency room visit while I layed on the world's most uncomfortable table/bed/torture rack, I began to place greater importance on the value of proper physical maintenance and consistent medical fitness checks. Had I been more diligent with that, I think I could have avoided the dread of a potentially abbreviated life and all of the last minute concerns that race through one's head. Given my characteristic propensity to abandon healthful behaviors as time erases the urgency, I'm not sure it is an enduring epiphany. Then again, there is the formidable Mrs Fuster to prod and poke...
I'm on a heart monitor for another 15 hours. I have had a normal rhythm since about 4:00 am so I guess I am out of the woods. Anyway, if y'all haven't had a physical exam and blood work done lately or ever, perhaps it would be wise to do so; if only to eliminate possibilities later.